The impacts of long-term cultivation on soil degradation in the San Luis Valley, Colorado

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Essentially all agricultural lands globally are under pressure to meet the food demands of an additional 2 billion people over the next 20 years. All of the agroecosystems possess limitations that constrain their ability to optimize production, however, these limitations are magnified in semi-arid regions where permanent, seasonal or periodic moisture deficiency results in evaporation and transpiration rates that exceed precipitation. Traditional cultivation practices that utilize modern technology have resulted in substantial amounts of soil loss through wind and water erosion, decreased soil ...